Chicago, IL -- Shawn Kemp, better known during his days in Seattle as "The Reignman" is on his way back to the NBA after inking a two year deal with the Chicago Bulls reportedly worth $9 million. Kemp, who has sat out the 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 NBA seasons will attempt to resurrect a career that was derailed by substance abuse.

"My career didn't end up how I would have liked, I didn't get to leave on my own terms," the 35 year old former All-Star told reporters at his first Bulls practice. "I'm very grateful for the opportunity to prove I can still play the game at the highest level and help Chicago make another playoff run."

Kemp figures to ease the loss of Eddy Curry, who was re-signed then traded to the Knicks this past offseason. In Kemp, who has shed nearly 30 pounds in preparation for his comeback, the Bulls have a legitimate big man and a former All-Star who will no doubt tutor Tyson Chandler and Mike Sweetney as well as seeing some significant minutes as the Bulls look to return to the playoffs again after breaking a six year drought last April.

One last chance for The Reignmanby Samuel Smythe**Just in case there's any lawyers around!

Shawn Kemp understands the skepticism. He's 35 years old. He hasn't set foot on an NBA court in two years. His best years are behind him and his recent past has been filled with weight problems, cocaine addiction and countless paternity jokes. At the same time, the lucrative deal he signed with the Cavaliers back in 1998 a year after his trade from Seattle has afforded him financial security and allows his family to live in comfort. But that's not what Kemp wants his legacy to be, that's not how he wants to be remembered.

That's why he's standing here talking to reporters after an intense training session. That's why he's dropped a remarkable amount of flab. That's why he's convinced the Bulls to give him a two year deal estimated to be worth around $9 million to show he's not washed up. And I admit it, I'm one of those skeptics. Kemp says he's grateful for the opportunity. I'm sure there's a lot of fans hoping he'll show his appreciation through his production.

This isn't the same Kemp that looked so impressive against us in the 1996 NBA Finals. It's not the same Kemp that was expected to lead the young Cavaliers in the late 90s and he's a far cry from the young man with so much potential and athleticism. But he insists he's also not the same man who was suspended for violating the terms of his rehabilitation and that at least is a piece of good news.

Kemp won't be around for long and Curry may be destined for bigger things in New York, but as a short term solution I'm willing to give it a chance. After all, he's a former All-Star who reached heights Curry hasn't come close to touching yet. He won't need to be the Reignman of old. If he can defend the paint, score a few buckets a night and perhaps pass on some of his more admirable habits to the likes of Tyson Chandler and Mike Sweetney, he'll be worth the investment.

Why do I have such faith in him? Watching him practice, I noticed a touch of the old Shawn Kemp. He can still hit jumpers and is effective around the basket, he can still rebound (probably better than Curry) and he even threw down a couple of dunks. He hasn't forgotten how to play the game.

I'm not sure whether I'd start him though. His conditioning could be better and he seemed exhausted after practice finished, but whether he starts or come off the bench it seems he would be able to give the Bulls a decent 20-25 minutes per night at the power forward and centre positions. I anticipate the Bulls will experiment with their lineups as far as Kemp, Chandler and Sweetney are concerned before deciding who deserves the starting nod. Chandler will likely start at centre most of the time while Sweetney and Kemp battle it out at power forward.

I expect Luol Deng will edge out Andres Nocioni at the other forward while Hinrich will probably start alongside Ben Gordon in the backcourt. Chris Duhon impressed a lot of people last year and worked hard during the offseason but the Bulls will not benefit from holding Gordon back.

It should be an interesting season that kicks off in the United Center against the Bobcats on Wednesay.

Dirk Nowitzki drops 50 in one of three opening night contests

The Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki outshone his former teammate and reigning Most Valuable Player Steve Nash as he scored 50 points in the Dallas Mavericks' 128-98 thumping of the Phoenix Suns. Jason Terry added 24 points and 11 assists for the Mavericks, who outscored the Suns 38-23 in the third quarter and never looked back.

"Obviously, this isn't the kind of start we were hoping for," commented Suns' coach Mike D'Antoni. "We're disappointed but we know we've got 81 games left to play. We won't let this happen again anytime soon." Nowitzki admitted that the meltdown in last year's playoffs added extra motivation. "I wasn't happy with how our season ended," the All-Star forward said. "We wanted some revenge."

Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion and Steve Nash all scored more than 20 points led by Nash's 25, but Marion shot 9/24 and Kurt Thomas was the only other Sun in double figures, with 11 points off the bench to go with 10 rebounds.

Elsewhere the Bucks survived an overtime battle with the Sixers as first overall pick Andrew Bogut made his NBA debut, scoring 12 points as well as grabbing 14 rebounds, blocking two shots and dishing out 4 assists before fouling out in Milwaukee's 100-98 victory. Allen Iverson scored 31 points as he led a 27-13 fourth quarter charge that forced the extra period. Redd scored 28 for the Bucks while Webber had 20 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists for the Sixers.

The defending champion San Antonio Spurs opened their season against the Denver Nuggets, whom they eliminated 4-1 in the first round en route to their 2005 crown. Tim Duncan was in fine form scoring 22 points to go along with 10 boards and 5 assists as the Spurs topped the Nuggets 91-82. Michael Finley, acquired during the offseason after being waived under the amnesty clause by the Dallas Mavericks, scored 10 points off the bench. Marcus Camby led the Nuggets with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks while star forward Carmelo Anthony scored 12 points and struggled shooting 5/16 from the field.

Coach's DiaryNovember 1st, 2005

I'm excited about this season. I still can't believe I've been given the opportunity to take the reigns as coach and general manager of the team I've always loved. I have a really good feeling going into the new campaign.

There's some tough obstacles though. The guys are still dealing with the loss of Eddy Curry. It's the nature of the business but last year everyone formed a close-knit unit so it's not as though they've just lost a teammate or colleague, they've lost a friend to the "enemy". And in replacing Scott Skiles, I'm replacing a coach they both liked and respected. So far everyone has given me a warm reception and I feel they've put their faith in me. I definitely feel some pressure to live up to their expectations, not to mention those of the fans, Jerry Reinsdorf and my own.

I can't wait until tomorrow. I'm sure we'll put on a show for our fans and start the season on a high.

Game recaps, etc starting soon

Last edited by Andrew on Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:44 am, edited 30 times in total.

Nah nice thread once again. Everyone rants and raves about cocobee's collage dynasties, but these are a throwback to how we used to do them. Lots of writing and that forces us to use our imagination. I will be reading!

Jugs wrote:Andrew, are you frustrated that your Bulls have lost 8 in a row so you've decided to change their fate in an NBA Live dynasty? I would do the same..

Kind of, but I just can't go past doing a Bulls one these days.

Matthew wrote:Nah nice thread once again. Everyone rants and raves about cocobee's collage dynasties, but these are a throwback to how we used to do them. Lots of writing and that forces us to use our imagination. I will be reading!

Thanks mate, I'm feeling pretty enthusiastic about this one so I'll hopefully be able to update it frequently.

Coach's DiaryNovember 1st: Getting ready for opening night

So many questions about lineups for opening night. I still haven't decided on my starting power forward: Shawn or Mike? Or I could go another way completely and start Noce. I like the idea of having Chris off the bench with Kirk and Ben in the backcourt, and I'm sold on Luol starting as well. I think we'd be best with Tyson starting in the middle, at least for tomorrow. Who knows what I'll decide after the game is done?

That's the mistake some coaches will make, starting players out of principle and being too reluctant to change. I'm all for stability but when something clearly isn't working a change is in order. "Fix the problems and don't fix what ain't broke." That's my motto.

I think it will be a gametime decision. Ultimately it doesn't matter who starts this one. I'll try to give everyone enough time to show what they can do and find out which strategies will best suit our team. I think some folks would like Shawn to start for sentimental reasons and I'm leaning towards him but ultimately we're trying to win games and get back to a level where we can compete for a championship, not weave our own story. Still, I know how important this comeback is to Shawn and I truly feel we will be able to use his talents. So I don't plan on having him warm the bench.

I want to see how Ben reacts to being the first option. I think he's ready. There's no advantage in holding him back. That said I'll be quick to look elsewhere if he's not yet comfortable in that role. With the makeup of this team I think most of our wins will come from a balanced attack rather than a dominant 30 point scorer with everyone else just chipping in once and a while. But I am a firm believer in letting a scorer go when it's clearly his night and it's working for the team. I don't care to cut my nose off to spite my face.

Everyone's ready for the season to tipoff. I can't wait.

Last edited by Andrew on Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I will definitely follow your dynasty, I am very excited that you signed Kemp to the Bulls for 2 years. Kemp in Live 06. I would like to see Kemp start at PF because that is his natural position. Kemp looked so slim in that pic, did you change his weight to 270lbs?

Kemp wrote:I will definitely follow your dynasty, I am very excited that you signed Kemp to the Bulls for 2 years. Kemp in Live 06. I would like to see Kemp start at PF because that is his natural position. Kemp looked so slim in that pic, did you change his weight to 270lbs?

I was thinking of upping his bodytype to the next size. I've got him listed at 256 which was his weight when he got to Cleveland. I might make that a round 260 or a tad higher, though he did look like he'd slimmed down a lot in that interview a few months back. I did reduce his muscle tone a bit compared to his counterpart in the Legends pool.

Thanks Mark. I didn't do many feature articles and such in previous years, something I'll be doing more of in this one whenever my time allows it. I don't want to overuse pictures though, I'm hoping to use words to paint the picture and just have a few pictures of memorable moments and to punctuate some stories.

Andrew wrote:Nah nice thread once again. Everyone rants and raves about cocobee's collage dynasties, but these are a throwback to how we used to do them. Lots of writing and that forces us to use our imagination. I will be reading!

Thanks mate, I'm feeling pretty enthusiastic about this one so I'll hopefully be able to update it frequently.

Hey, you didn't write that. j/k

A great start, i'ts great to see a dynasty not full of oversized pics for a while. I'm really curious to see how Kemp will fit to the NBA. Keep it up!

Was an awesome dunker. He's 35 and even if he did shed the weight (as that interview with the real Kemp a couple of months back would suggest) I don't think he'd be throwing it down like he used to. I don't think 97 would be appropriate these days.

In all honesty it can get boring winning every game especially if it's a blowout. But I don't anticipate it will be like that. If it gets that way the sliders can make things more challenging, something I should've done back in the 2004 Dynasty.

That happened to me in my 2004 dynasty. I was playing on Rookie (this was back when I first started out), but for some reason I never advanced to the next level, even though I was racking up 200 points a game, and 40 steals a game. Eventually, I finally got bored with that (which wasn't until after I won the championship), and advanced to the next level.

Well, there is a certain element of fun to winning...problem is when you get on long streaks like that you have to start doing things like trying to go for records and padding stats to make the games interesting. At least in my experience.

Finally? I've had it for PC since before the US release since it leaked in Australia. How do you think I've been making the roster updates?

needs more pics to be the best start

PICTURES!!!

I've never really understood that. Like I said earlier I'd rather let the words paint a picture and only use screenshots that punctuate the story or show something interesting. I'll probably post more pictures than I have in years past but I don't like to rely on them.

Chicago looked good through the first three quarters, but a fourth quarter collapse saw the Bobcats start their second season with an impressive win over the Bulls. Led by Emeka Okafor's 22 points and 16 rebounds the Bobcats outscored Chicago 37-22 in the final quarter to secure a 107-101 victory in the United Center.

The teams had traded baskets for the first quarter before the Bulls pulled away in the second quarter behind fast breaks led by Ben Gordon and Kirk Hinrich, who combined for 20 assists in the contest. But Charlotte was stubborn and refused to give up, though they trailed by 11 at the half. Tim Thomas, who was traded to the Bulls this past offseason before being dealt to Charlotte in order to make room for Shawn Kemp, seemed determined to prove himself against the Bulls as he scored most of his 10 points in a third quarter run that saw Chicago's lead dwindle to five. But the Bulls recovered with Gordon giving them an 11 point lead with a dunk late in the quarter.

Chicago's defense was dismal in the fourth quarter however, allowing Charlotte to connect on 14/21 field goal attempts. Chicago had no answer for second year sensation Emeka Okafor, who powered past Kemp and Sweetney for easy, rim-rattling dunks. The final six minutes saw a back and forth battle with several lead changes. Brevin Knight hit a jumper to put the Bobcats ahead for good at 95-91. The Bulls would come within two but were forced to foul, allowing Charlotte to seal the game from the free throw line and take their first victory over Chicago.

Ben Gordon's dunk game Chicago an 11 point lead in the third, but the Bulls couldn't hold off the Bobcats in the final period

Coach's DiaryNovember 3rd, 2005 - Disappointment

Spirits were low after yesterday's loss. Everyone has taken our frustrating collapse in the fourth quarter hard. Ben in particular was quiet in the locker room afterwards. He shot 1/7 in the fourth quarter, though he was fouled on a couple of trips to the basket and there was no whistle. I'm not about to blame the referees though. We shouldn't have let them score 37. We were in control of that one and we blew it.

The important thing, I told the guys, is that we have 81 more of these games to play. Yes, this game didn't end how we wanted it to but it doesn't have to be an omen for the rest of the season. It's best not to dwindle on it too long. Let's learn from our mistakes and be ready for the Wizards on Friday.

Even though we lost, I liked some of the things I saw last night. I liked the unselfishness that Kirk and Ben were showing, though we need to get them some better shots. Tyson was crashing the board at both ends and scoring easy buckets inside. I couldn't believe some of the shots he was swatting. Noce was great in just 25 minutes, Luol was solid and Chris will need to get more minutes. Most pleasing was Shawn, who had 16 and 9 and gave us his all for 28 minutes.

I've been thinking about the loss too long. It's time to look ahead to the Wizards. Arenas is going to be difficult to contain. Hopefully the team's eagerness to exact revenge for last year's playoff elimination won't work against them. Sometimes you can play really well when you're angry but other times you just get too sloppy, too careless and overly aggressive. But I'm confident the guys will have their heads in the right place.

Last edited by Andrew on Sat Jan 07, 2006 5:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Tough loss but your team played pretty well for 75% of the game, good to see that the coach aint blaming the poor shooting % of his star guard on the player but rather on the teams abilities to find him good shots.

I look foward to the next update

"Money is options, not happiness, its what you do with those options that makes your life" - Conrad Bishop